The Biggest Thing
by Ralinde
Summary: Follow Hagrid and Mme Maxime as they embark on a non-conventional journey together. Written for the 'Meet the Parents' competition and the 'Milestones' competition, both on the HPFC forum. The original title of this story was 'Meeting the Parents' when it was still a one-shot. It is now elaborated.
1. Meeting the Parents

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter-related. JK Rowling does and unfortunately, I'm not her._

_A/N: There will be seven chapters, one for each milestone in the relationship of Hagrid and Olympe: first time they meet, first date, first fight, proposal, marriage, first anniversary, first child. They will not be in chronological order. _

_The first chapter is the original one-shot for the "meet the parents" competition. In the "milestones competition" this first chapter is for the milestone "first fight"._

_Excusez le français, I just felt that since Olympe is French, it suited the story. _

* * *

"_Love is the _biggest _thing that will ever happen to you."_

They had been travelling for weeks now. Rubeus Hagrid was starting to get bored and wished that they could just travel in a straight line to their final destination. But it was important that they looked like a normal couple on vacation, although there wasn't much that was 'normal' about Rubeus and his companion Olympe Maxime. For starters, they were both at least ten feet tall. They gave any 'all-you-can-eat-buffet-restaurants' a run for their money. And they were wizards (sort of, in Rubeus' case) on a mission to convince a troop of giants to choose their side. So 'blending in' and 'not attracting attention' wasn't as easy as it sounded.

They had talked it through with Dumbledore and they had agreed to visit Olympe's family first and continue eastwards from there on. Rubeus was nervous, though he did not show it. He had liked Olympe from the very first moment he laid eyes on her. And now they were on a trip together. Rubeus sighed and glanced sideways at Olympe. _My, my, ain't she a sight_, he thought. They were only half a mile away from Olympes parental house, hidden in the forests around Dijon. It was a distance they crossed in a very short time. _Well, this was it then. No turning back now._ Olympe rang the doorbell to the enormous mansion and the door was opened by an average seized looking man. _So, it was her mother then too?_ He enthusiastically started to shake hands with the man, which resulted in two things: the man was shaken not only by the hand but by his entire body and Olympe cast him a foul look. He let go of the man's hand and mumbled an excuse.

While Olympe started rattling to him in rapid French, Rubeus looked around him. It really was a nice place, much better than his shack at Hogwarts. The man nodded them into a living room and there they were: Olympe's parents.

Her parents introduced themselves to him: Olivier (who was of average height) and Calla (who was the cause of Olympe having 'rather big bones' as she herself used to say).

"Oy, brought yer flowers," he stuttered and held out a rosebush. "Name's Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid."

He and Olympe sat down and were served tea. There were a lot of awkward silences in a conversation that was half in English, half in French and after they finished their tea, Olympe went with her mother to the kitchen. Rubeus panicked.

Olympes father eyed him suspiciously and said:

"Alors, quelles sont tes intentions avec ma fille?"

Rubeus blinked. He had never really been good with languages.

Olivier sighed and repeated his question in English. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Ah well, we be trav'lin' ter Eastern Europe ter meet der giants," Rubeus answered in his heavy accent. "Dumbledore reckons they might take side wir us. Shouldn't have said that," he added.

"Zat's not what I mean of course. Are you intending to marry my daughter?"

"Marry her? Oy, if she'll have me," he gloated.

"So, I suppose you'll be doing well for yourself zen. What do you do for a living?"

"Am Keeper of der Keys at Hogwarts," Rubeus replied proudly.

Olivier raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Surely you could 'ave done better after graduating 'Ogwarts zan to 'ang around as a Keeper of Keys?"

"Well, er, I din't exactly graduate Hogwarts as ter say…" Rubeus looked intently at the tip of his shoes.

"What do you mean, you didn't graduate 'Ogwarts?"

"I er got expelled, I did." The tip of his shoes seemed to gain interestingness with the second.

"Are you telling me zat you want to marry my daughter while you 'ave been _expelled_ from 'Ogwarts?!" He shook his head, shocked. He yelled for his daughter.

"Olympe!"

Olympe came back from the kitchen. "Oui?"

"Qu'est-ce que tu pense?! Que je vais te laisser marier cet impudent, qui n'a jamais fini Poudlard et qui n'a rien à t'offrir?!" [_translation: What are you thinking?! That I will let you marry this oaf, who has never finished Hogwarts and who has nothing to offer you?!]_

"Ben, papa, je n'ai plus dix-huit ans alors! C'est pas l'affaire à vous, non? Et alors, qu'est-ce qui vous dîtes que je vais me marier avec lui?" _[translation: Well, dad I'm not eighteen years old anymore! It's none of your business. And why would you even think I were to marry him?]_

She quickly found out that that was the impression Rubeus had unintentionally given and refused to speak to him when they left the mansion.

He tried to explain himself. "Olympe, I didn't know, he was jus' askin' an' I thought…"

"You actually told 'im we were to get married?" she turned around, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Might've mentioned it," he mumbled.

"Are you insane? I'm not going to marry you. You said you'd left zat behind you."

"Someone said ter me 'Love is the biggest thing that'll ever happen ter ye," he said.

"'Ow dare you call me big?" she shouted.

"I wasn'…" he started to say but before he knew what happened, he got a whack on the head from Olympes travellerbag-sized handbag.

Olympe looked at him furiously. Rubeus' eyes watered in pain, but he grinned. _She sure got spirit, his Olympe_.


	2. Discussing Equines

_A/N: This chapter is for the milestone 'the first time they meet'._

Rubeus balanced from one leg to the other. He was looking at the biggest horses he had ever seen. They were just beautiful. As he poured them single malt whisky, on Dumbledore's orders, he wondered what the person they belonged to would look like. If the horses were any indication, there was a chance they were a half-giant as well. It would be nice to meet them, since he'd always thought he was the only one.

After giving the horses one last bucket of single malt whisky, he walked quickly towards the castle. Once inside, he shook his head to clear it of raindrops, before entering the Great Hall. He walked over towards the staff table, but froze in his tracks.

There was indeed another half-giant. It was a woman. And she was absolutely amazing. Clad in deep black satin, her dark hair pulled into an elegant knot, she was the epitome of perfection. At least to Rubeus she was. He wondered if he could sneak out and make his appearance a bit neater. But unfortunately, being a half-giant means you kind of stick out in a crowd and Dumbledore was already beckoning him forth.

"Hagrid, I'd like to introduce you to Olympe Maxime. She is Head Mistress of Beauxbatons and will be staying with us for the remainder of the year. Olympe, this is Hagrid, our caretaker," Dumbledore introduced them to each other.

"It iz a pleazure to meet you, Monsieur 'Agrid." Olympe held out her hand and Rubeus shook it fervently, not really knowing what else to do.

"Nice ter meet yer," he replied. He was still holding on to Olympe's hand and she looked at him a little irritated. Too late he realised his mistake and he quickly let go off her hand before sitting down at the table.

There was an awkward silence between them. "You 'ave tended to my 'orses?" Olympe said in the end. "'Ow are zey?"

"Der absolute beauties, they are," Rubeus said. "Der Abraxans, yes?"

"Indeed zey are," she answered, a little surprised.

"How do yer make them pull the carriage? I thought twas very difficult ter make them pull things, seeing as they don't like it and all."

"We breed zem ourselves," Olympe said proudly. "We 'ave ze finest breeding programme in ze world."

Rubeus eyes began to shine. "You have ter tell me all about it," he said. "I do a bit of breeding me self as well. Got me self a nice herd of Thestrals, I have." He gave her a meaningful wink. "But don' tell anyone, it's sort of illegal ter breed them," he added. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he regretted them. _I shouldn't have said that_, he thought. _I don't even know her_.

But Olympe Maxime leaned in closed, a look of interest on her face.

"But where would you keep zem?" she asked. "You can't 'ave zem running free around ze grounds, non?"

"They life in Forbidden Forest, they do. No one goes in der but me and even if they do, der can' see them, can they?"

Olympe nodded in understanding. "Ze invisibility, non?"

"I can take you ter see them," Rubeus offered. "That is, if yer able to see them of course…" He shuffled his feet, not sure whether or not Olympe would find such a question impertinent. He was basically asking her if she had ever seen anyone die.

"I would, alas," she replied.

"Then I'll take ye to them tomorrow."


	3. Dancing till dawn

_A/N: this one is for 'first date'. I'm not completely content with it as it is now, so'll probably make some chances tomorrow. _

_I've also written this one for the Pairing diversity Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt 'glad rags' and the Character Diversity Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt 'dance'.  
_

* * *

"Professor, I need yer help." Rubeus had barged in into Minerva McGonagall's office.

"What is it, Hagrid?" she replied, a little worried at the look of panic in his eyes.

"I asked Olympe ter the Yule Ball," he grunted and set himself down on a table , which creaked dangerously.

"And she declined?" she said sympathetically. "I'm sorry Hagrid."

"She said yes," Rubeus said, dumbstruck.

"That's good news! I'm happy for you. But why are you looking like everything is wrong?"

"It's just…I can' dance!" he exclaimed grunting. "She's all good manners and such an' she'll think I'm but an oaf!"

"Now Hagrid, not so pessimistic," Minerva said. "I'm sure she would not have agreed to come with you if she thought you were an oaf. "

"Teach me, Professor," Hagrid said.

"Teach you what?"

"Teach me how ter dance." Rubeus felt embarrassed that he had to ask her, but it was the only way to not make a complete fool of himself at the Yule Ball. "Please," he added, for good manners.

Minerva sighed. "Sure, I will help you."

"Thank you Professor. That means a lot ter me."

It was only a couple of weeks until the Yule Ball thus twice a week, Rubeus would find himself in Minerva's office, trying to get a grasp of the basics of ball room dancing, which was a rather hard thing to accomplish when you're over ten feet tall and have feet the size of small boats.

"One more time, Hagrid. Left, right, quick-quick-slow…"

He tried to focus on his feet, but he lost his balance somewhere along the quick-quick part of the dance and tread on her toes. She whimpered.

"So sorry, Professor," he excused himself and quickly took a step back.

"That will be all for today, I think," she said and grimaced. "Keep practising Hagrid."

The Yule Ball was to start in about an hour and Rubeus twisted his tie nervously. He normally never wore a tie and the piece of clothing irritated him. But he wanted to make a good impression on Olympe. He had put on his glad rags and had even combed and flattened his hair. But the dancing part had him worried still. He had practised a lot, together with Minerva in her office, or alone, in his hut, and she was quite confident that he would do fine. He however, was sure he'd forget parts of it out of nervousness. That's why he had drabbled the basic steps on a piece of paper he kept in the pocket of his costume.

He took a deep breath before knocking on the door of Olympe's quarters. She opened almost immediately and Rubeus swallowed hard. She looked absolutely stunning in her long silk dress adorned with white flowers.

"Hi," he said awkwardly. She smiled at him and he felt his knees buckles just from her looking at him. As he had practised, he offered her his arm and together they walked towards the Great Hall. It was beautifully decorated, even more so than on a regular Christmas feast.

"It iz beautiful," Olympe said as she looked around.

Rubeus pointed at the enormous Christmas trees. "I've put them up," he said proudly.

"All by yourself?"

"Aye, I do that ev'ry year. The Professors help decorate 'em of course."

They walked over to one of the tables and like a true gentleman, Rubeus asked Olympe if she would like something to drink.

"Some punch, s'il te plait," she responded and Rubeus walked over to the punch table. He waved enthusiastically to Ron and Harry, who were both sitting on the side and looking a bit grudgingly at Hermione, who was dancing with one of the Durmstrang students. He walked back towards the table Olympe was sitting at and handed her the punch.

"Zank you."

They talked about different subjects, but all the while Rubeus was mustering up the courage to ask her to dance with him. Finally, after a couple of glasses of punch, he extended his hand.

"Would you like ter dance with me?" he stumbled.

"I would love zat," Olympe answered. As they walked to the dance floor, her hand loosely in his, a feeling of joy overcame him. Olympe truly was a remarkable woman. He repeated the steps inside his head, like a mantra. One-two, quick-quick-slow…

To his surprise, it went sort of okay. He didn't know what to say whilst dancing and might not have gotten all the passes right, at least he didn't tread on her toes.

Minerva McGonagall put up her thumbs to him to indicate that he was doing fine and he smiled. He would never have expected it, but if this was what dating was like, he could get used to it.


	4. Persuading giants

_A/N: The moment you've all been waiting for: Hagrid finally pops the question!_

The sight was imposing. What had looked like a valley filled with rocks was slowly coming to life, revealing enormous giants. Rubeus held his breath and squeezed Olympes hand. Olympe gave him a slight squeeze back. In the past months they had grown closer. Most of the time, it was just the two of them in desolated areas so there was plenty of time to talk and get to know each other even better.

"We should try ter get up ter them," Rubeus said.

"We mustn't forget ze present from Dumblydore," Olympe said, preventing him from going in there without it.

"Right."

He helped her off the rocks of the mountain they had been staying in, ever the gentleman. It was strange. He had never thought of himself of a gentleman, yet when he was with Olympe, it seemed to come natural.

The branch of Gubraithian Fire held high, they approached the giants. They easily picked out the leader. "See, he's ther ugliest and laziest," Rubeus pointed out.

"Ze really are ugly, aren't zey?" Olympe shivered. "I really can't understand why zey wouldn't take more care of zemselves."

The gift was accepted with great interest, as were the next presents they brought. They felt like they were really on to something. But then, at night, they were brutally awoken by the sound of fighting down in the valley.

"What is zat?" Olympe asked.

"Looks like they're fightin'," Rubeus answered.

She sighed. "We'll need to start again, won't we?"

"I'm afraid so. But we'll succeed," he said more confident than he felt.

The look in Olympes eyes told him she wasn't so sure, but they didn't speak of their doubts. If they started doubting now, they might as well return to England.

So, the following morning, they went back, carrying another gift. But the new Gurg wasn't quite as receptive as the old one had been. They took a pretty bad beating before finally managing to escape back into the mountains, covered in blood and bruises.

"You're limping," Olympe said in horror when they had returned to the cave they'd been sleeping in.

"'Tis nothing," he tried to wave it away.

"Non, non, let me look."

He shuffled his feet out of her view. He knew it was bad, and he didn't want her to see it. She had enough on her own injuries for sure. But she was very resolute and in the end, he had no choice but to reluctantly show her his injured leg. It was already starting to turn green.

"Zis looks 'orrible!" she exclaimed. "I need to fix zis, or you might be limp forever." She took out her wand and let it go over his wound. "It iz infected," she said. "I'll look for ze herbs to zreat zis."

She got up, with the intention of starting to look for medicinal herbs, but he took her arm. "Olympe," he said. She stopped, one eyebrow raised at him questioningly.

"Oui?"

"Olympe, I know tis'll sound silly, but when that nasty giant punched yer, I thought I'd lost yer. I don't want ter loose yer. Perhaps tisn't the right time but," he swallowed hard, "will yer marry me?"

For a moment, there was silence, and Rubeus was afraid she'd turn him down, or worse, laugh at him in his face.

"Yes, I'd love zat," she replied.

"Really?" He couldn't hide his surprise.

"Oui. Zese last months 'ave been amazing. You are special, Rubeus."

"Olympe, yer just made me the happiest man on earth."

He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her fingers. "I love yer," he said.

"I love you too," Olympe answered softly and in that moment, all of their injuries were forgotten. Forgotten were the cuts and bruises, forgotten the broken bones. Forgotten were the giants that lived within the valley. Forgotten was the mission they had been given by Dumbledore. There was just the two of them and nothing could come between them.


	5. Planning a Party

_A/N: I think this one is rather obvious, but if you hadn't figured it out already: this one is about their marriage._

* * *

"We should keep it small," Rubeus said.

"We should," Olympe agreed. "Just close family."

"And some friends."

"Definitely. Who would you like to invite?"

"Well, Harry, Ron and Hermione o' course, they've done a lot during the war and fer me."

Olympe scribbled their names on the list. "We should invite my father's aunt 'Elga as well. She will be so disappointed if she does not get ze invitation."

"Tis okay," Rubeus said and smiled at her. "Harry is with Ginny now, so put her on the list as well. Come ter think of it: Could we invite ter Weasleys?"

"What, all of zem? Zere are so many!"

"Yeah, they're sort of important."

"D'accord, well, if you inviting ze Weasleys, is it okay zat I invite mes collègues de Beauxbatons?"

"If you want ter invite them, that's fine by me. Could we invite the professors of Hogwarts also?"

"Bien sûr. What about our neighbours?"

"And we should ask Kingsley, especially since he's ter Prime Minister now.

At the end of the conversation, there were almost a hundred people on the list. Rubeus and Olympe looked at each other.

"Zis is not possible," Olympe exclaimed.

Rubeus shook his head. "It was going ter be just a small party," he muttered. "You and I, Olympe, we know far ter many people," was the conclusion he reached. "But I can't thing of a single one on ter list we shouldn't invite."

She sighed. "I suppose it is not going to be a small party zen."

.

"Seriously Hagrid, how could you have expected it to become a small party?" Harry said when Rubeus told him and Ron the story of why there were so many people at their wedding.

"Yeah, you're both half-giants," Ron added. "There nothing small about the both of you. If anything, it promised to become a _big _party from the start."

They both laughed and Rubeus laughed with them. It was, after all, his wedding day and he had taken his vows and tied the knot with the most extraordinary woman in the world. There was no reason whatsoever not to laugh.

He turned to where Olympe stood and smiled. She looked stunning in her red dress. She had not wanted to wear white, since white 'did nothing for her figure'. Seeing as she was the one who had to wear it, he had complied with her wish. He wore a brown tuxedo with a bow tie and was all of a sudden reminded of that other time that he had worn a tuxedo. It had been over three years ago, but he remembered it as if it were yesterday: that was the day they had started dating, the day of the Yule Ball.

.

He walked over to her and made a parody of a bow. "May I have this dance, Madame Hagrid?" he said.

She laughed and excused herself to her present company before placing her hand in his. "Of course."

Rubeus signalled the band that was playing and they changed their tune to the song they had first danced to. This time, he didn't need a piece of paper to tell him what to do. He had learned the steps by heart and they quick-quick-slowed over the dance floor, his heart pondered in his chest with joy. He'd never imagined that he, Rubeus Hagrid, would ever get married; yet here he was.

"Let's just say goodbye ter everyone and start on that honeymoon early," he said.

"Zat is not very nice to ze people who 'ave come 'ere, is it?" she laughed softly.

"I suppose not. But right now, I just want ter be with you."

"Me too. But I am sure you could manage another 'our. Where are we going, anyway?"

Rubeus had taken it on himself to plan their honeymoon and he had not wanted to tell Olympe were they were going. But since they were to leave in a couple of hours, he couldn't keep it a secret anymore.

"Norway," he said proudly and judging by the look on her face, he'd done a good job picking a destination. "We'll be doin' a bit of travellin'," he added. "See the fjords and such. It's supposed ter be wonderful this time o' year."

"I can't wait to see it for myself," Olympe smiled and kissed him.

Rubeus glowed. _Yep, he definitely was the luckiest man in the world to have found a woman like Olympe. _


	6. Taking up Farming

_A/N: Sorry this one is so short, but I had zero inspiration for the anniversary-milestone. I promise you the next (and concluding) chapter will be a lot longer!_

"I can't believe it 'as been a year already," Olympe said. Her hand rested on the swell of her stomach. Today was their first wedding anniversary.

Rubeus pulled her into a hug. "Yer still as beautiful as when I met yer."

Life had changed for both of them. When the war had ended, they had moved into a Manor in France. Rubeus' hut at Hogwarts was too small to accommodate the both of them, and Olympe was of course still Head Mistress of Beauxbatons. So after much debate, Rubeus had quit his job and they had bought the old farm near Perpignan. It came with a vineyard, a a fruit orchard and enough space to start a breeding programme on rare species. It was the latter that had made up Rubeus' mind. If he was going to leave Hogwarts, then at least it should be somewhere where he felt comfortable.

So he had taken up farming and had started breeding Blasted-End Screwts with much enthusiasm, much to Olivier's dismay, who thought it a shame that his son-in-law could not provide for his daughter. But they had silenced his objections. They were happy, and that was all that mattered, right?

They had agreed that they would not throw a celebration party, but instead make it a day for just the two of them. Rubeus had taken vegetables from the garden and Olympe had prepared dinner. She still didn't trust him to do the cooking.

"It is not your strongest point," she had said after he had served her his homemade brownies for the first time and she had nearly broken off a tooth. She was teaching him though, and he was learning bit by bit, but on this day she preferred to do it herself.

She had made coq-au-vin for the occasion and Rubeus frowned.

"Is that okay ter be havin' for you in yer condition?"

"Ze alcohol 'as vanished from ze cooking, it is just ze taste."

They sat down at the large oak table and began their dinner.

"We should really be starting to decorate ze room," Olympe said, halfway through dessert. Rubeus swallowed the spoonful of chocolate mousse he had just taken and nodded.

"Aye, we should. You are free tomorrow right? We could start then. But today is our day and I intend to make the best of it."

"I can live with that," she smiled.


End file.
